


The Alchemist with the Ouroboros Tattoo

by S1lv3rT0ngu3



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Dark Alphonse Elric, Edward Elric Swears, Homunculus Edward Elric, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:52:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24247573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S1lv3rT0ngu3/pseuds/S1lv3rT0ngu3
Summary: In 1899 Hohenheim committed the ultimate sin in order to gain a son and not a year later he was willing to do it again for one more. Now 10 years later two young, promising alchemist hope to repeat his actions, however,  by doing so they unlocked an ancient evil. Now how will Amestris fair against two uncaring alchemist bent on doing things their way?
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Wrath (Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)), Edward Elric/Greed, Edward Elric/Greed (Ling)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so one thing that's always confused me is the fact that Hohenheim can have kids. It was really confusing cause he's a philosopher's stone. So here's my AU of Ed and Al as Homunculi, so enjoy!

**February 3rd**

**Resembool, Amestris**

**_Hohenheim's POV_ **

Hohenheim wipes sweat from his brow as he looks up from the transmutation circle and says, “Finally it's almost complete, it's almost time to bring Edward into the world.” He looks at the circle to make sure nothing is out of place, once he sees nothing wrong with it he claps his hands and puts them on the transmutation circle. The circle lights up in red alchemical light as Hohenheim closes his eyes. 

After several seconds he opens his eyes again and looks upon a gate. “Welcome once again Alchemist, what brings you here this time?” Hohenheim turns around and looks upon a creature, no a being. The _thing_ that stood there couldn't be considered anything alive. It had the features of a human, but it's appearance was blank. Like a white canvas; no eyes, face, nose, no discernible mouth yet it spoke. “Well Alchemist? I'm waiting.” Hohenheim takes a deep breath and says,

“I have a bargain Truth.” The being, Truth grins maliciously and says,

“Interesting, do tell Alchemist.” Hohenheim looks at him confidently and says,

“As you know I can't biologically have a son, so I want to create one. Soul and all, in return for giving me a son I will give you five Philosopher stones and 25% of the souls in my stone.” Truth ponders this for a moment and grins at Hohenheim and says,

“You've got yourself a deal Alchemist.” Hohenheim smiles as he's pulled into the gate behind him. Images flash by him as he travels through the gate, giving him knowledge of the truth. 

Hohenheim groans in pain as he comes back to the real world, feeling the burning sensation of the removal of some of the souls in his stone. He hesitantly opens his eyes bracing for the pain of the sunlight hitting his eyes. However as he looks around he notices it's dark outside and thinks to himself, ‘God, how long was I out?’ He covers his ears as he hears a loud, piercing wail of agony and quickly looks towards the transmutation circle. He looks at where Edward lays and upon seeing him missing a leg he rushes to him and picks him up. As he cradles Edward he thinks to himself, 'Damn Truth! There's always a catch isn't there?’ He begins to rock his son back and forth and coos the little boy. Edward's cries start to lessen and Hohenheim smiles as he feeds Edward a philosopher's stone. He looks at Edward as the stone heals the wound but doesn't regenerate his limb. Hohenheim sighs and thinks to himself, 'Well you can't regenerate something that was never there. We'll have to look into a temporary replacement for automail until you're old enough to have it.’ Hohenheim walks out of the warehouse and heads towards his house and tells Edward, “We're going home son, soon you'll meet your mother and we'll all be a happy family.” He smiles brightly looking forward to a bright future.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Alphonse face the cruelty of Truth

**1910**

**Resembool, Amestris**

**_Ed's POV_ **

"Water, 35 liters. Carbon, 20 kg. Ammonia, 4 liters. Lime, 1.5 kg. Phosphorus, 800 g. Salt, 250 g. Niter, 100 g. Sulphur, 80 g. Fluoride, 7.5 g. Iron, 5 g. Silicone, 3 g. And trace amounts of 15 other elements." Ed puts the last of the ingredients in the transmutation circle as he and his younger brother, Al take a knife and cut their finger to give the transmutation 'soul data’. They let the blood drop in the other ingredients and get on their knees to perform the transmutation. They put their hands onto the transmutation circle and it begins to light up in a blue light as electricity seems to emit from it but soon it goes wrong. Darkness surrounds the circle as the space around the circle turns a dark purple that seems to emit a wrongness, a premonition that things have turned dire. Al looks at Ed worriedly and says worriedly, “Something doesn't feel right.” To their horror they seemingly begin to disintegrate, Ed's leg erupts in a darkness taking away his right arm whilst the darkness consumes Al's whole body. Ed tries valiantly to reach Al, to save him but just as he's close enough to touch him Al disintegrates into nothingness.

Ed looks around in confusion as seeing a white void. Devoid from anything discernible except for a gate and a blank being. “Hello.” The being says and Ed looks at it in confusion and says,

“Who are you?”, The thing replies,

“I’m so glad you asked. I am called by many names; I am the world, I am the universe, I am god, I am truth, I am all, I am one, and I am also you,” It says as it points to Ed. Suddenly the gate behind Ed opens and he's pulled in by numerous black tendrils. “You have dared to knock on the door, now the door is open,” Ed screams in terror as the tendrils surround him, “Quiet child. This is what you want, isn't it? I will show you the truth.” As he's dragged in images flash by him at lightspeed, yet he can still comprehend them. He finally understood who and what he is, he's not Edward Elric. He was born, not created, he was never alive, it was just a façade to deceive the weak-minded humans. As if a gate broke in his mind he remembered everything about his creation, about being a homunculus, about who he is. He's the sin Brashness, compulsive and doesn't think before acting and does things in the moment. He finally understood who he is and what his goal was and is determined to accomplish it no matter what. 

And as suddenly as it happened he's back with the being, Truth. Truth asks,

“How was it?” Ed turns around and walks towards the gate and says,

“I see, the theory of human transmutation wasn't wrong. It can be done, it's possible,” Ed puts his hands on the gate, “It's still just missing something! All the answers I need are right here. The truth about human transmutation! Please! You have to show it to me again.” Ed turns towards Truth as it says,

“I can't do that. I've already shown you all I can for the toll you've paid.” Ed asks worriedly,

“Toll? What toll?” Truth says,

“This toll,” as Ed's arm disintegrates from his body and on Truth's own, “Surely you knew.”, Ed looks down in horror at his missing limb. Ed turns and Truth has suddenly grown and is inches from Ed's face as it says “It’s the law of equivalent exchange. Right, young alchemist?”

Once again Ed's back in the real world clutching his arm and screaming in agony. He looks around for Al only to see his clothes and nothing more and says,

“Dammit! This can't be happening, it can't be! This wasn't supposed to, agh! He's gone! What have I done! Somebody help me, somebody. Please mom, mom please,” Ed looks to where his mother is supposed to be and looks at that _thing_ they created in disgust. Whatever is was, it wasn't human. “No, no this is wrong. This isn't, this isn't what we wanted,” He cries “Al, Alphonse, Alphonse! Alphonse! This is all my fault, Alphonse! Alphonse no!” Ed cries as he makes a human transmutation circle in his blood and says, “No dammit, you won't take him too. Give him back he's my brother. Take my leg, take my arm, take my soul! Anything! You can have them! Just give him back, he's my little brother. He's all I have left!” He claps his hands and completes his transmutation.

Once again he finds himself in front of Truth. It grins maliciously and says “Back so soon alchemist?” Ed glares at it with a fire in his eyes and says,

“You can have whatever you want, I don't care. Just give me back my little brother!” Truth grins and says,

“Ok, I'll give you want but in return you must give up half the souls in your stone and most of your humanity. You'll be able to be around humans but will care very little for them and you'll have the urge to kill them? Can you handle that alchemist?”Ed nods at Truth and says,

“I'll give anything for my brother.” Truth grins and says,

“Good luck alchemist.”

Once again Ed is in the real world but this time he sees Al unconscious but unharmed. However his joy is diminished due to the unbearable burning sensation of losing half of the souls in his stone. He screams in unbearable agony as he falls unconscious and Al suddenly wakes up at hearing his brothers scream and looks at him in horror at his missing limb. He thinks to himself, 'Granny will know what to do.’ he then picks Ed up and brings him to the only person he can trust with this, granny Pinako. 

**Some time later**

**Resembool, Amestris**

**_Mustang's POV_ **

The two military officers step off of the train and look at the small town,

“Sir, are you sure this is the right place?” A woman with blonde hair in a bun asks. The man, Roy looks at a letter and says,

“Yes Riza, this is where the letters say they are.” She nods and they head down the street. After a while they come upon a seemingly empty house and Roy knocks. After waiting a minute and having no answer, not even the shuffling of someone coming to the door Roy attempts to open the door. Surprisingly the door's unlocked and swings open into a dark hallway, they enter and Roy calls out “Hello? Anyone here?”, All the response they get is the wind. Riza says,

“It doesn't look like anyone's home, we should probably go.” Roy's about to agree but then he notices a door with light shining under it.

“Look,” he says, “That door has a light under it, maybe someone's in there.” He goes to the door and opens it only to find papers and books scattered everywhere. Upon closer inspection he sees that they're alchemy books and transmutation circles, but when observing the transmutations he realises, to his horror that they're human transmutation circles. He hurriedly leaves the house out the back door and sees an old warehouse and says, “Did they really do what I think they did?” He rushes to the warehouse with Riza on his tail and barges in. He covers his mouth to hold back the rising bile in his throat and thinks to himself, 'How could anyone accomplish this? Are they even alive?’ Riza sets her hand on his shoulder and refuses to look at that _thing_ and says,

“We should go Sir, whatever you were looking for isn't here.” He nods his head in agreement and they leave the warehouse. Once again Roy pulls out the letters to see if there might be somewhere else the two could be, he finally sees a different address and it's also in Resembool. He looks at the address and heads to the house.

**_Al's POV_ **

Al looks out the window and sees two military officers head to his old house and turns to Ed and says, “So the military officers are here like you said they'd be so what do we do?” Ed stands up and paces and says,

“Well obviously they're gonna find out about us performing human transmutation so we'll tell most of truth that but I think we should lie about us both performing it. Just like with Granny they can't know that we're not human so I'll be the one taking all the blame. Also we should probably have them believe that I lost both my arm and leg in the transmutation.” Al looks at Ed curiously and says,

“Why?” Ed sighs and says,

“Because, it's not normal to be born without a leg so it's best they think I lost it in the transmutation.” Al nods his head in agreement and says,

“Ok I'll go convince Granny. She hates the military anyways so it won't take much to get her to lie to them.” Al leaves the room and goes to tell Pinako.

**_Mustang's POV_ **

Roy and Riza finally reach the house and stop at the doorstep. Riza asks, “Are you really sure they're here? They could be long gone for all we know.” Roy has a determined look in his eyes and says,

“Yes, I'm sure of it.”, Roy knocks on the door and hears a dog barking and someone saying,

“Oh hush Den, don't bark at our guests,” an old woman opens the door and says,

“Yes?” Roy barges in, pushing the woman aside as she yells, “You have no reason to barge in here!”, Roy ignores her and beelines to Ed and lifts him up by the shirt and says,

“We went to your house and saw the floor, what happened! What did you do!” Ed looks down and says,

“I'm sorry I didn't mean to I just, just wanted to see her smiling again.”

“I'm surprised,” Roy says, “I came to this town looking for a brilliant alchemist but I find a boy skilled enough to do human transmutation. He's more than skilled enough to become a state alchemist but should he choose to he will need to serve the military in times of need. But in return he will gain access to otherwise restricted material.” Pinako slams her hand on to the table and says,

“After those boys came to my house cover in blood I went there to see what happened myself. That _thing_ I saw, whatever it was it wasn't human. Alchemy created that _thing_ and you want to throw these boys into it!? Would you really have them go through that kind of hell again?” Roy says,

“I'm not forcing you, merely offering the possibility. If you ever hope to get your body back you should move ahead, even if the way is through a river of mud.”, He stands up and says to Riza, “We're leaving.” She nods in response and as they leave the house Riza asks,

“Will they be coming?”, Roy replies,

“They will.” She looks at him skeptically and says,

“That boy, I've never seen anyone look so defeated.”, Roy grins and says,

“That’s what you saw? No, there was fire in those eyes.”

**Some time later**

**Resembool, Amestris**

**_Ed's POV_ **

Ed sits on a hospital-like bed with his arm and leg wrapped and Pinako asks, “Are you sure about this? There's no going back.” Ed gives her a determined look and says,

“Yes. How long will the rehabilitation take?” Pinako thinks for a second and says,

“Three years give or take.” Ed says,

“I’ll do it in one.” Pinako and Windy gasp in surprise at this statement and Pinako says,

“You'll have yourself spitting blood, you know that?” Ed nods in response and looks at Al reassuringly and says,

“We'll get through this, I promise.” Al nods his head in response and says,

“I know we will brother.” 

**1911**

**Resembool, Amestris**

**_Ed's POV_ **

Ed charges at Al and Al grabs him by the arm and flips him over his shoulder. Ed groans in pain and gets up and says, “Looks like I'm fully healed, only one last thing to test.” He claps his hands together and blue electricity emits from his hands as he turns his automail hand into a blade. He grins and says “Good looks like we're ready to head to Central.”, Al smirks and says,

“Soon we'll be there and they'll have no idea what's coming.”, Both of them smirk at the knowledge of the change they'll bring to Amestris.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al deal with a train situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, so far this fic has been following the original FMA plotline but I don't want Ed and Al to meet Nina and co until after they've gotten their State Alchemist license so they're just gonna be studying in a hotel or something instead. It's not gonna really mention it cause I'm just gonna timeskip to the exams but I don't want you to be confused so I'm stating that here.

**1911**

**Train station, Resembool**

**_Ed's POV_ **

Ed and Al walk onto the train station, Ed going to the phone to contact Roy and Al going to get biscuits from a vendor. Ed calls Roy and says, “We're here at the train station and boarding the 9:20 train for Central, Sir.” Roy says,

“Roger that, hey wait a minute. There's one leaving before that, isn't there?” Ed says,

“Yeah, but we had a detour and got here late and I think it's leaving." Roy says,

“Get on it.”, Ed says,

“Why does it matter?”, Roy says,

“Take it or go home.” Ed hangs up and runs to the train yelling at Al,

“Time to go!” Al says,

“What? Now?” Ed says,

“Change of plans. Time to go!”, They both run to the train as it's leaving and manage to jump on it just in time.

Ed and Al sit on the train and eat their biscuits. Ed takes a bite out of his biscuit and says, “I can't seem to figure out this Mustang guy, he's got to have ulterior motives but I just can't seem to figure them out, what do you think Al?” Al thinks for a moment and says,

“Well like anyone in a government position he's looking for power so maybe he'll get recognition for recommending the youngest soon to be state alchemist? But otherwise I'm not sure, maybe he knew our father. Hmm we'll have to think on that.” 

A couple minutes later an older man in a plain brown coat comes running over and says, “He’s right he is small.” That seems to trigger something in Ed and he jumps up yelling,

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RUNT SO TINY HE CAN ONLY BE SEEN BY A MAGNIFYING GLASS YOU JERK!” The man backs away wearily from Ed and says,

“Relax kid, the colonel said it, I was just repeating it.” Suddenly two men stand up and point a gun at the man as the man also pulls out a gun. The guy looks around nervously as the man behind him hits him in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. The guy gets knocked out and the other passengers notice and stand up and look to see what's happening, they look nervously at the two men and one of them says,

“No heroes today. Everyone shut up and put your hands over your head or say hello to a bullet.” Ed and Al glance at each other and silently agree not to do anything as to not put the passengers in danger. 

Several minutes later the two men walk back over to Ed and Al and start harassing a little girl and her mother, Ed grits his teeth and yells and points behind the two men. They look behind them and while they're distracted Ed knees one of them in the face whilst Al knocks the other one out by hitting him over the head. They grin at each other but a random passenger says, “You dumb kid, what are we supposed to do now? Don't you think they'll notice that two of their men have gone missing? And what will happen to us then? They'll want retribution, we'd of been safe if you'd have cooperated until we got to Central.” Several other passengers voice their agreements as Al asks,

“What do we do next?” Ed says,

“Well I didn't plan that far.” One of the men they knocked out awakens and points his gun at the little girl but before he can do anything Al stomps on his back causing the man to go down again. Ed then picks up the gun ands asks the girl and mother, “Are you guys ok?" They tell him yes and Ed looks around at all the nervous passengers. Ed and Al share a glance and decide to do something, they won't let any innocent bystanders be harmed. Ed says to Al, “Well, we better get started.” As they go to the compartment they hear someone yell,

“Wait!” They turn around and see the man from before scooting towards them tied up. They stop to untie him and the man says, “How embarrassing, who are you guys? Freelancers?” Ed rolls his eyes at the human's question and says,

“Just two old-fashioned alchemists.” The man says,

“Well you don't say. I'm Falman a State Warrant Officer.” Ed looks at the man, Falman in surprise and says, 

“A soldier huh? Sure don't look like one." The man chuckles and says,

“Well yeah there's a reason for that. We've got a special passenger on board, the front car kind.” Ed hums at this and says,

“So that's why these guys are here.” Falman turns to face Ed slightly and nods his head in confirmation. Ed scowls and mutters to himself, “And they decided to drag us down with them.” He stands up and says to Al, “I'm going up top to surprise them. You take them from down below to distract them won't ya?”, Al grins at him and says,

“Of course I can handle them no problem.” Ed smirks and says,

“I know you can.” They both head off in their respective directions to ambush the enemy.

**_Al's POV_ **

As Al heads to the next car he grins mischievously and says to himself, “This is gonna be so much fun, humans are so stupid and gullible.” He opens the car door and all the men turn to him. They threaten to open fire on him but he just grins and forms his arm into a shield *****. The men open fire on him and he keeps deflecting the bullets back at them, making sure to hit fatal spots. He didn't think there was a point in sparing them, they'd just hurt or kill innocent bystanders. He may not necessarily like humans as a general rule but he never saw the point in senseless killing, it just caused more problems than it solved. After making sure all the men were dead he headed to the next compartment wondering what his brother was up to.

**_Ed's POV_ **

“Shit, shit, shit,” Ed yells into the howling wind, “Why'd I think this was a good idea.” He ducks under an incoming branch, not wanting his head taken off. He looks up towards the front of the train and sighs at seeing how many cars away he was from the engine room. Despite this he steels himself and starts running towards the front of the train. With his years of training and more recently acquired agility and dexterity from unlocking his skills as a homunculus he makes it to the front of the train without breaking a sweat. He then lays in his stomach and looks into the window to see what's going on. He sees that there are two guards watching the two workers so he begins to try and gets one of the guards attention. After a minute or so he finally manages and punches the guard and jumps into the car. While the other guard was busy trying to shoot Ed the two workers come up behind him and knock him out. The workers then turn to Ed and give their thanks. Ed waves them off and leaves to meet up with Al.

After several minutes later he comes across Al finishing off some men and double checking to make sure that they're dead. Ed rolls his eyes at this and says,

“Really Al?” Al turn and glares at Ed then harrumphs and says,

“You know how I feel about innocent bystanders getting killed, whether they're human or not they don't deserve to be killed.” Ed sighs and shakes his head and says,

“Whatever Al, let's just beat up this bastard so we can go back to relaxing.” Al rolls his eyes and they enter the car with the leader of the so-called 'terrorist' group. Ed goes up to the man and demands for him to surrender (because that looks a lot better than instantly beating the shit out of him Ed thinks to himself) despite this the man refuses and so Ed starts to fight with him. They eventually lock their hands together and try to push each other back, and Ed notices that he also has an automail arm. He doesn't think much of it but the man notices that they both have an automail arm and starts droning on and on about how they are similar and the military will throw Ed out the second he doesn't prove useful. Ed just rolls his eyes at this (because I mean he already knew this, he didn't need Blackbeard over here to try and give him a life lesson, thank you very much) and in response breaks the man's automail.

After a while the train gets to Central and Ed and Al drag the tied up man out of the train. Upon getting onto the platform the brothers notice that Mustang is waiting for them so Ed picks up the guy and tosses him at Mustang's feet. He sneers at the man and says,

“Well Mustang, did we prove ourselves capable of handling things like this?” Ed raises his eyebrow in mild irritation and Mustang says,

“Yes, you two did a good job. But where are his subordinates? Are they unconscious?” Al snickers slightly and says,

“No, they're dead,” Mustang and Riza look at Al in shock ****** as he continues, “They would've just continued doing what they were doing and would've tried to hurt innocent people. There's no reason for pointless death so I went ahead and stopped it at its source. Nothing more, nothing less.” Mustang and Riza shake themselves out of their stupor to grab and arrest the man. But unbeknownst to them while they were distracted the man managed to pull out a knife, so when Mustang steps closer he attempts to stab him. Luckily for Mustang he notices the knife before it could hit him so he steps back out of range of the swipe at him. He then glares at the man and snaps his fingers at him, flames seemingly spring from the glove and hit the man full on. The man seemingly is finished but after the flames die down he is still intact, but singed. Mustang tells some nearby officers to take the man away as he leads the Elric brothers to somewhere they can stay and study until the State Alchemist exam.

**Some time later**

**Central, Amestris**

**_Ed's POV_ **

'Today is the day.’ Ed thinks to himself as he and Al walk into Central Command. 'Today decides whether or not Al and I can become State Alchemist.’ They head to the designated testing room and sit down in the corner away from the other applicants. They ignore the hateful stares they get from the other applicants because of children being allowed to apply for a state alchemist license and wait for the written exam to begin. After about fifteen minutes the tester stands up and hands out the papers and walks back to the front of the room. The tester makes a speech about no cheating and such then tells the applicants that they have three hours to complete the exam and that they may begin. Three hours later Ed and Al leave the exam room and walk towards their hotel room. On the way there Ed bemoans the fact that the exam was child's play and Al hits him on the head and says, "Oh hush brother, we're prodigies when it comes to alchemy. Of course it'd be easy for us, I just wish they would've let us leave as soon as we finished our exam. Sitting there for an hour and a half with nothing to do was so mind numbingly boring." Ed chuckles slightly and says,

"Well at least it wasn't two whole hours for you." Al rolls his eyes and they finally reach the hotel and prepare for the practical exam and interview that'll be tomorrow.

**The next day**

**Central, Amestris**

**Ed's POV**

The two brothers get up very early in the morning to iron out all the details and lies to tell the interrogators. Al's story doesn't need much change other than not mentioning the transmutation of their mother and obviously his status as a homunculus, Ed's is a bit trickier; however. They had to come up with a plausible story as to how Ed lost his arm. Eventually they decide to say that Ed lost his arm during the Ishvalan conflict seeing as Resembool was only a thirty minute train from Ishval. With their story ironed out they get ready and head to Central Command, upon their arrival they are ushered to a large room with other applicants where a door sits on the far wall. Ed suspects this is where they will be interrogated and the practical exam is to be taken place but he can't be too sure. Some time later a man in a military uniform comes out of the room and starts calling names in alphabetical order to come into the room. Eventually they get to the E's and Al's name is called and he enters the room.

**Al's POV**

Upon entering the first thing he notices is a golden three legged stool and he looks skeptically at it, if someone were to sit in it they shouldn't be able to keep it upright. Suddenly a light shines down on a middle aged man and he says in a loud authoritarian like voice, "Take a seat. Alchemy is the science of balance, if you have the gift it will not refuse you." Al walks towards it confidently and takes a seat. The man, whom upon further inspection Al realises is the fuhrer, looks at him impressed and says, "Good state alchemists should show no fear. Now, why do you wish to serve the military?" Al looks him in the eye and says,

"I have someone I want to protect, I'll take the good with the bad. It's worth it all for him." The fuhrer smiles and motions for Al to stand. He does so and someone moves the chair away and the fuhrer says,

"Now Alphonse Elric show us that you have what it takes to be a state alchemist." Al smirks and gets on his hands and knees and claps his hands and slams them onto the floor. Blue light and electricity surround Al as two iron guards for his arm form. The light and electricity fade and Al grabs the guards and attaches one to each arm and claps his hands and lays one hand on each guard. They light up and change into blades. The inspectors watch on impressed and the fuhrer says, "You may go Alphonse Elric, your results will be in, in a week." Al, understanding the obvious dismissal exits the room and looks at Ed and gives him a thumbs up.

**Ed's POV**

Ed enters the room and sits in the chair he sees and waits for the fuhrer to say something. Ed is asked the same question Al was and he gives the same honest answer. The fuhrer nods and motions for him to stand and begin his transmutation. Ed gets on his knees and claps his hands and slams them to the ground. He stands up as a spear surrounded by blue light and electricity forms from the ground. The inspectors nod in approval and the fuhrer says, "You may go Edward Elric, your results will be in, in a week." Ed nods his head and leaves then goes and meets up with Al so they can head back to the hotel.

**One week later**

**Central, Amestris**

**Ed's POV**

Ed and Al wait in Lieutenant Colonel Mustang's office for their exam results. Mustang pulls out two folders and hands one to each of them and says, "These are the exam results, boys both of you have passed and earned the title of youngest state alchemist in history." Ed and Al grin at each other and skim through the papers. Al then looks at it curiously and says,

"What's this second name about?" Mustang smirks and says,

"Every state alchemist is given a second name by the fuhrer and he seemed to be quite ironic in his naming this year. Alphonse you were dubbed The Iron-Smith alchemist and Edward you were dubbed The Fullmetal alchemist." The boys look at each other and simultaneously think, 'This is gonna be fun.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side notes: The * where Al forms his arm into metal is part of his power as a homunculus, it's kinda like Envy or Wrath's (2003) power.
> 
> The ** where Roy and Riza look shocked is a bit OOC but imagine you're in their situation where you heard two 12 year olds killed a bunch of people, terrorist or not


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al face a cult

**1914**

**Somewhere in the desert**

**Ed's POV**

"Ugh," groans Ed, "Why does the desert have to be so damn hot!?" Al sighs at his brother and says,

"What do you expect Ed? It's the fucking desert for Christ's sake." Ed grumbles and says,

"I know that but I don't have to like it, besides shouldn't you be hot too? I mean your jacket is black after all." Al rolls his eyes and says,

"Yes I am hot but unlike you I'm not gonna bitch and whine about it all the way to Liore." Ed flips Al off and after a while of walking they finally reach Liore.

**Liore, Amestris**

**Ed's POV**

Upon arriving in Liore they see a fountain and immediately dash towards it in hopes of getting water. However, upon closer inspection it's not filled with water but a reddish liquid of some sort. Ed takes the cup and fills it with liquid and says,

"Is this blood?" Al sniffs it and says,

"More like blood red wine." Suddenly they're both lifted up by their coats and an older man yells,

"Hey! You know you're not allowed that stuff."

The older man laughs and says, "Travellers, that makes sense! I thought you were one of the kids trying to take a sip!" Ed resists the urge to roll his eyes and says,

"A fountain full of red wine, huh. This town must be pretty loaded." The man laughs again and says,

"We do alright, oh! I almost forgot." He turns on a radio and some sort of religious broadcast starts playing. Ed makes a weird face and says,

"Freaky." Al nods his head in agreement and says,

"Seems like some sort of religious broadcast of some sort." The man puts his hands on his hips and says,

"You guys are wearing jackets in the desert and you call us freaks," the man looks between Ed and Al and asks,

"Who are you guys anyways? Some kind of street performers?" Ed spits out his drink in shock and yells,

"What gave you that idea!?" The man says,

"Well you've got to have some reason to travel out to the desert." Ed sighs and says 

"We're just looking for something, but who is this guy on the radio anyways?" The man replies,

"Why that's Father Cornello." Ed says,

"Never heard of him." The man looks at him in shock and says,

"You've never heard of the great Father Cornello!?!" Several people around Ed and Al start talking about his miracles and Ed suddenly stands up and says,

"I just remembered we have places to be, come on Al." Al stands up and accidentally knocks over the radio and breaks it and the man yells,

"What have you done! That's what you get for not paying attention." Al says,

"Calm down I can fix it." The man asks,

"How? It's in a million pieces!" Al rolls his eyes at the uneducated human and says,

"Just watch." He claps his hands together and puts them near the radio and the radio mends itself together and starts playing the broadcast again. The man looks in shock and says,

"This is a real land of prophets, isn't it? Your friend can perform miracles like Father Cornello." Ed sighs and says,

"It's not miracles it's alchemy." The people around Ed and Al go on about not having alchemist around Liore and one man says,

"I fix things for a living, let me know if you need work." A woman at the bar chuckles and says,

"He doesn't need a job, they're the Elric brothers. The Fullmetal and Iron-Smith Alchemist, they've become quite famous around East City." The men surround Al and ask a bunch of questions thinking he's the Fullmetal Alchemist but Al says,

"I'm not the Fullmetal Alchemist, it's my brother Ed. The men look at Ed and one of them says,

"That shorty over there?" Ed growls and yells,

"Shorty! Could a shorty do this!?! Want to call me a half-pint bean sprout midget! I'm still growing you backwater desert idiots!" A woman with long brown hair and pink bangs walks over and says,

"Looks like there's plenty of excitement going on here today." Ed stops his rant and the woman says,

"Don't let me stop your fun, I'm Rose by the way." Ed and Al introduce themselves and the man says to Rose,

"Are you done with shopping for your offerings today?" She nods her head and the man says, "Maybe you can take these boys to the church they say they're looking for something, maybe Father Cornello can help them." Ed says,

"We'd like that." Rose nods and they head to the church.

They arrive at the church and head inside and come to an altar room and Ed and Al sit down. Rose then begins cleaning the altar and Ed says "So if you pray and clean the altar enough this 'god' Leto will bring the dead back to life?" She smiles slightly and says,

"Something like that." Ed sighs at the ignorant humans not knowing better and says,

"Water, 35 liters. Carbon, 20 kg. Ammonia, 4 liters. Lime, 1.5 kg. Phosphorus, 800 g. Salt, 250 g. Niter, 100 g. Sulphur, 80 g. Fluoride, 7.5 g. Iron, 5 g. Silicone, 3 g. And trace amounts of 15 other elements." Rose looks at Ed confused and asks,

"What's that?" Ed replies,

"The composition of the human body and even though science has given us the full composition of the human body there's never been a successful attempt of bringing a human back to life even after centuries of research, so what makes you think that hack job priest can do it? And to boot all those ingredients can be bought on a child's allowance, humans are made so cheaply there's no magic to it." Rose yells angrily,

"Well if there's no magic to it why don't you do it!" Ed stands up and walks to the altar and says,

"It's only a matter of time, science is the answer to everything. If I were you I'd put down the scriptures and pick up an alchemy book. We're the closest things to gods there are." Rose glares at Ed and says,

"You're not a god" Ed replies,

"And neither is the sun, it's just a mass of hydrogen and get close to it like Cornello says and all you'll do is burn." Al sighs from the doorway and mutters,

"Typical Ed putting his cynicism on someone else." He feels something against the back of his head and a man behind him says,

"Don't worry your brother will be joining you soon." He shoots Al in the back of the head and he falls to the ground. Ed and Rose look that direction and Rose covers her mouth in horror. Ed growls and says angrily,

"Get out of here Rose" she looks petrified and stammers,

"W-what about you? You've got to get out of here too." He shakes his head and says,

"You don't want to see what I do when I'm angry." She looks worried but runs away in terror. The man smirks and says,

"Sending away your only witness, how heroic." Ed snarls and says,

"Want to give me your name before I have to kill you?" The man laughs and says,

"I doubt that'll happen but I'll humour you kid, it's Crazy now remember that as I kill yo-" a hand suddenly busts through his chest from behalf and he turns his head in horror and sees Al's face reforming and Al says, 

"How about you remember the name Confidence as you die." Al rips out Cray's heart and he falls to the floor dead and Al crushes his heart. Ed says,

"You good Al?" Al rolls his eyes and says,

"Yeah that just hurt like a bitch, let's just find Cornello I'm sick of this place." They go downstairs and find Rose standing on this platform thing with Cornello. Cornello says,

"State alchemists, brutal enforcers I knew you'd come here." Ed yells,

"You knew we'd come for the stone!" Cornello holds up his hand and shows off a ring with a red stone on it and says,

"You mean this? Yes the mythical Philosopher's stone." Ed smirks greedily and says,

"It's finally ours. Hand over the stone Cornello and we won't tell the people what you've been doing!" Cornello responds,

"You mean bringing peace and prosperity? No one wants that to stop, do we Rose?" She looks at Ed and Al terrified and Al yells,

"Don't believe him! He's just a con man!" Cornello says,

"Con man? Would a con man bring life back to a desolate town? They were hungry and I gave them bread, they were thirsty and I gave them water, I even gave them money. I became a prophet to them, why would the military want to destroy that?" Ed yells,

"I don't give a fuck about what the military wants! We want the stone for ourselves!" Rose gasps and says,

"So that's what this is about! You only care about yourselves, what about us? You're two selfish boys willing to destroy our happiness for yourself!" Cornello says,

"Good girl, you've seen the lies the selfish will weave." Al says,

"Call us selfish all you want but that doesn't change the fact that we're getting that stone even if we have to pry it out of your cold, dead hands." Cornello laughs maniacally and says,

"See Rose these are the state alchemist and their willingness to get whatever they want well I won't let them!" His ring flashes red and the ground turns to sand and he says, "With the ground sand you can't draw transmutation circles! So let's see if you can handle my pets without your precious alchemy!" He pulls a switch and a chimaera of a lion and a lizard comes out and charges them. Ed smirks and claps his hands and puts them on the ground and creates a spear whilst Al creates a sword. Cornello looks on in shock and stammers, "H-how did you do that without a transmutation circle!?!" Ed ignores him and attacks the chimaera. Cornello growls and throws his bird and changes it into a chimaera as he says, "Bring me his head my pet!" The bird flies to Ed but is taken down by Al's kick and Al says,

"You made a grave mistake forgetting about me, ever wonder why your lackey Cray never came back?" Cornello looks in fear and frantically tries to summon Cray but receives no response. Al chuckles menacingly and says, "He should have shot Ed first." The bird chimaera gets up and tries to attack Al but he grabs it by its neck and breaks it easily. Cornello steps back in a mixture of shock and horror and stammers,

"W-what are you?" The lion-lizard chimaera is thrown next to the bird chimaera with a broken jaw and Ed stands next to Al and rips off his coat revealing his automail and says,

"We're the Elric brothers and we haven't even gotten started yet."


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al deal with a whack job priest

Cornello gulps nervously and in order to distract the Elrics, he stammers 

"W-what do you want? I'll do anything! Just don't hurt me!" Ed and Al glance at each other and start laughing at Cornello's cowardice and don't notice him transmuting a gun behind his back but Rose does and she backs away nervously. The Elrics compose themselves but before they can even blink Cornello fires his machine gun, however, thanks to the flash of red light giving the transmutation away Ed is able to erect a wall to protect them. Cornello gets desperate and calls his men in to rid of the demon children so the Elrics make a break for it. Despite the hasty exit, they're able to get out of the church fairly easily and wander around town trying to figure out what to do next. Al sighs and complains,

"I swear this has been one shit storm after the next. First, it was the fucking desert, then the old man thinking we were trying to get the wine, Cornello's 'miracles' and his cult, you not having any social skills with Rose, getting shot, and not even getting the stone. Fucking hell this has just been a waste of time." Ed ponders this in silence and after several minutes seems to have an epiphany and cries,

"I've got it! I know a way we can turn this around and make it worthwhile," Al gives him a look that says 'go on' "So what we do is let me be captured and you hide so when they take me you can follow and figure out where I am then you'll create a hole behind me and stick a mic there and when Cornello comes to finish me off or whatever I'll provoke him into confessing to using the townspeople and you'll broadcast it. Then I'll fight him and figure out a way to kill him in a nice, neat manner and tie-up all the loose ends. So what do you think?" Al seemingly tosses the idea around for a bit before nodding and says,

"I think it's actually one of your more well thought out plans but how do you know that Cornello will come after us?" Ed scoffs at him and says sardonically,

"Of course he fucking will. His ego is worse than yours and we'll spread the truth about his cult so you should know that he's gonna try some shit." They wander around some more and eventually end up in town square and they're surrounded by the townspeople. After a scuffle, Ed is drug away by Cornello's men and to the church. Al discreetly follows them as Ed keeps up the act the whole way there and as Ed is taken to a dungeon to be chained up Al is still able to follow thanks to dim lighting and conveniently placed support beams. After getting the general layout of the church he sets to work.

**Ed's POV**

Ed sighs in boredom for the millionth time in the past 20 minutes wondering if Cornello was ever going to show up and just as he was about to cause a ruckus his door opens and Rose comes in bringing him food. She sets it down in front of him and he smiles and says, "What? Are you gonna feed it to me?", she huffs and turns away and says,

"You were wrong you know. About him being a fake, he did it he brought back my boyfriend." As she gets to the door Ed says cautiously,

"Rose you need to make sure that it's him, don't believe everything that bastard has told you." She pauses momentarily before running out the door and Ed just sighs at that.

**Rose POV**

She gets to Cornello's door and thinks to herself, 'Are you really going to listen to him? Look at what they did, they were inhuman' but another part of her has her thinking, 'Maybe so but they didn't seem so bad. Al came across as sweet but that look he got when mentioning Cray… Cray did try to kill him though so can I really blame him? No, I don't think so. So maybe just seeing him and proving that they're wrong about Father Cornello will help them see the light. I can do this.' She manages to sneak into Cornello's room and makes her way to Cain's room. She unlocks the door and says, "Cain I know I shouldn't have bothered you but I had to see you!" behind the folding screen Cain turns to her and says,

"... Rose…" She smiles and says happily,

"Oh I knew he was wrong Cain. It's really you!" He just responds in the same tone,

"R-Rose…", she stammers,

"C-Cain? Are you ok?" Suddenly the door opens behind her and Cornello walks in and he says,

"Rose." She turns to him and says,

"Father Cornello! I'm so sorry but I just had to see him, I just had to know" he smiles and says,

"Rose you've been unfaithful." She gasps and says quickly.

"No, never! I just-" His grin widens maliciously and he says,

"It's rather hard to bring back the dead you know, there are always a few kinks." She looks around and gasps at the dead birds lying around the room illuminated by the rising sun. Suddenly there's a crash behind her and she turns to see an anthropomorphic bird where she thought Cain was.

"Rose…" It cries with seemingly malevolent intent behind it. Cornello smirks again and says,

"You were a faithful follower Rose but I'm afraid that you can't be allowed to tell anyone about this." He backs out of the room and locks it as the bird gets ever closer to Rose and just as it seems to be going in for the kill there is another crash and a cry of agony. Rose wearily opens her eyes to see Al's foot has snapped the birds' neck she gasps and Al snaps,

"Come on! I know it's not pretty but you've got to get out of here." She wearily takes his hand as he gets her out of the church.

**Ed's POV**

Ed sighs in boredom and looks at the wall and wonders if he should just give up and go find Cornello himself when his door suddenly swings open and in walks Cornello. Ed sneers at him and snarks, "So what are you gonna do now? Kill me?" Cornello chuckles and says,

"No, no that'd be too messy I'll just let my followers handle that." Ed rolls his eyes and asks,

"What are you after anyways, money?" Cornello shakes his head and says,

"No, no you think too small. I can get all the money I want from the offerings, what I'm really doing is gathering followers willing to fight and die for me. And why wouldn't they, they think I can bring them back to life. The greatest followers are ones who do not fear death. Mark my words in a few years I will have a following large enough to tear this country apart and rebuild it in my name!" Ed sighs and moves his arms down from the chains to eat his food and says,

"Makes no difference to me, after all there's really no way to bring someone back from the dead. Once you cut someone down they're gone for good." Cornello turns to Ed again and says,

"Yes that's right. Even with the philosopher stone I wouldn't dare try human transmutation, I'd end up like you. Besides why would a king sacrifice himself for his mindless pawns," Ed continues eating and Cornello notices and says, "Wait a second." Ed grins and moves to reveal a microphone sitting behind him the whole time. Cornello yells, "What! How long has that been on!?!" Ed continues chuckling and says,

"Long enough for the 'mindless pawns' comment I think." Cornello demands,

"How did you get my broadcasting equipment!?!" Ed sighs and says,

"I had Al rig it up, it was easy to make a plan for me to get captured so we could set this up and expose you." Cornello yells,

"No my children! He lies, don't believe him!" Before he transmutes a gun to destroy the microphone. Ed then jumps at him and slices his gun in half and says,

"Oh by the way, my skills don't come from my pocket watch so taking it did nothing." Cornello looks at him in shock before dropping the destroyed gun and running away in fear. Ed gives chase and Cornello runs out of the church only to be met with his mass of livid followers. He thinks for a minute and starts spewing bullshit by preaching,

"My children the nonbeliever used his science to impersonate me! It's a conspiracy of the devil! But witness as the great Leto redeems me with his vengeful light," he raises his arm and the philosopher stone glows and he proclaims, "Behold God's power!" All the Leto statues in the area light up and start moving on their own and the citizens watch in awe, buying his bullshit as he grins in victory. Ed walks up behind him and says,

"Give it up." Cornello turns around and holds up his pocket watch and says,

"You didn't fool me, without your pocket watch the only alchemy you can perform is to your own metal arm." Ed glares at him and says,

"Know what? You're not the only one who can't stand doubters preach," he claps his hands together and puts them on the ground and the giant statue of Leto in the church comes to life as Ed says, "Here's the real hammer of God!" The statue then busts out from the church and everyone watches in awe as Cornello says,

"I can't believe it, not even the philosopher stone can move something as big as that." The statue then aims and punches at Cornello as he screams in terror when it barely misses him. He then falls to the ground in shock and as Ed approaches him he yells, "You can't have it! I won't let you take the stone!" He tries to run away but the stone suddenly pulsates and he falls to the ground in pain and screams at the stone rebounds and deforms his arm. Ed glares at it in disgust and mutters,

"It's rebounding, of course it's a fake. A fake stone to go with a fake priest." He walks over to Cornello and watches as the stone falls to the ground and breaks. He growls and kicks Cornello and says, "You've wasted all of my time for it only to be a fake. I went through all your bullshit and the stone is as fake as you," he grins like a Cheshire cat and says, "The military will have fun dealing with you, won't they." Cornello scrambles away and yells,

"No!" And runs into the church and Ed chases him. They get to a secluded part of the church and Cornello turns around as he's backed into a corner by Ed and pleads, "Don't! I'll do anything just don't turn me in! Money? Is that what you want? Well take all my offerings just don't turn me in!" Ed chuckles menacingly and says,

"Turn you in? Now why in the hell would I do that? No, you're too much trouble to go on living. After all I always tie up my loose ends." He grins maliciously and Cornello shivers in fear and tries to yell for help but before a syllable can even come out of his mouth Ed stabs through his throat. Cornello gurgles on his own blood and looks at Ed with glossy eyes as Ed says, "Can't have you screaming for help, now can we?" Ed yanks his arm from Cornello's throat and watches as he bleeds out on the floor. He licks his lips and says, "Now to finish up this loose end." And walks to Cornello and crushes his head excruciatingly slow, savouring the sound of the skull cracking and the blood oozing from all his orifices when he hears one final crunch. Signifying the end to Cornello's life. He chuckles and takes his pocket watch and cleans up any blood on him and leaves the body of Cornello to find Al.

**Some time later**

**Ed's POV**

Ed and Al are sitting on a bridge and Ed sighs and says, "I can't believe we wasted all of our time on some wack job priest." Al shrugs and says,

"You can't expect many humans to be able to get their hands on a philosopher stone after all." Ed sighs and says,

"Yeah you have a point. But I've finished tying up my loose end, have you?" Al chuckles and says,

"Yeah it was stupidly easy but I was hoping to at least have her put up a little bit of a fight. But alas she trusted me too much but whatever. There's always next time." Ed nods and says,

"Well let's get going, we have a report to file." Al nods and they head back to central.

**Later that night**

**Church of Leto**

**POV ???**

Three figures stand over the remains of Cornello and inspect the damage that's been done. A androgynous looking person with long green hair wearing a crop top and miniskirt says, "Whoever did this must have really had a grudge, this is absolutely brutal. Don't you think Lust?" The woman with long black hair and a form fitting dress, now known as Lust nods and says,

"I agree Envy. It looks to have been very excruciating, from the looks of it he was still alive when his skull was being crushed. However whoever killed him was no amateur because they severed his vocal cords beforehand so he couldn't scream for help. Very intriguing indeed." A short chubby man tugs on her dress and asks,

"Can I eat him Lust?" She shakes her head and says "You'll get a stomach ache from him Gluttony." She and Envy turn away from the body to discuss if they should be concerned when suddenly they hear a crunch and turn back and see Gluttony eating Cornello's corpse. Lust sighs and shakes her head and says to Envy,

"Whatever the case may be involving his death we still need him so won't you keep watch here Envy?" Envy sighs and says,

"As much as I love this younger form I'll keep an eye out here." They grin as red sparks light up around them and instead of the young form from before there stood a copy of Cornello. Envy cracks their neck and says, "Let me go and fool these humans into thinking it was all a lie."


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al meet a little girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware this is the Nina chapter and as unfortunate as it is she has to die for the plot to move forward.

The Alchemist with the Ouroboros Tattoo: ch. 5

**Ed's POV**

Ed and Al stand behind Mustang as he knocks on the door of some alchemist, they understand that Mustang doesn't want to be in their debt but would much rather be looking into all the interesting murders happening in Amestris than staying at some stuffy alchemists' house. Yeah he created a chimaera that could talk, so what? There were plenty of human chimaera hybrids that actually looked human in Dublith. To say that they were wholly unimpressed would be an understatement. The door swings open and a seedy looking man with dirty blonde hair and glasses greet them at the door. The man looks at them for a moment before acknowledging them, "Hello Colonel Mustang, do come in. These must be the two young state alchemists we spoke of." 

He steps aside and allows them entrance into his home. Upon stepping through the threshold the first thing the boys notice is despite the nice house it didn't feel lived in, almost as if the man residing here died some time ago. However, on closer inspection there were splashes of life on the walls in the form of brightly coloured pictures hanging upon the wall. Seemingly hand drawn they gave life to the otherwise dreary household. They are taken to the kitchen and sit next to Mustang and across from the older man who seemed to be analysing them, for what however remains to be unseen. He clears his throat and breaks the stifling silence, "My name is Shou Tucker, the Sewing-Life alchemist. It's a pleasure to meet such young, promising alchemists such as yourself. The colonel told me that you were interested in my field, but I was hoping you could tell me more." There is a pregnant pause as Ed and Al try to come up with a plausible lie but before they can speak Mustang informs Shou,

"They're interested in the myth of the philosopher's stone and to the best of my knowledge it has many properties related to your field so I believed it best for them to start here." Shou nods and says,

"Well they're welcome to stay here and study or whatever they'd like for as long as they'd like. My home is open to them." 

Before Ed and Al can say anything to that they hear a crash in the next room they see a little girl and her dog rolling around in the floor playing. Shou sighs and says, "Nina, how many times have I told you not to run around with Alexander in the house?"

She bites her lip and looks down and mutters, "A lot daddy." 

He rubs his temples but before he can say anything else she notices Ed and Al and asks, "Daddy, who are they?" He smiles faintly and says, 

"These are the Elric brothers Edward and Alphonse. They'll be staying with us for a while so I want you to be on your best behaviour for them, ok?" She nods and waves and says,

"I'm Nina and this is Alexander, he's my best friend in the whole wide world." She smiles brightly at them and despite their rough demeanour the boys can't help but smile and indulge the little girl. Al says,

"I bet he is, he seems like a very good friend. Don't you agree Ed?" However before Ed can say anything to that he's pounced on by the large dog and is trapped underneath it. He could get the animal off him easily but is afraid of hurting the animal so he decides to do what he does best, complain. He groans over dramatically and says,

"Al so help me if you don't get this mutt off of me there will be hell to pay." Al has a hand covering his mouth, snickering at Ed's misery and refusing to be of any help to him. Ed growls and right as he's about to throw the dog off of him and say fuck the consequences the dog lick his straight on the face and gets off of him to sit next to Nina. Ed jumps up and has a menacing grin on his face and says, "Oh you're gonna get it now mutt." He begins chasing the dog as it runs outside leading Ed all across the yard as Ed's determined to get his revenge. Nina and Al ultimately decide to join in on Ed's quest for revenge and chase Alexander as well and the children enjoy themselves in the summer sun. 

**Mustang's POV**

Mustang chuckles and says, "It can be easy to forget how young they are when they're so serious but it's times like this I'm reminded that they're just kids. Kids that have no right to be here and yet they are." Shou studies Mustang for a moment before voicing a question that's been plaguing him since he first heard of the boys,

"Speaking of which colonel, why did you allow them to take the exam in the first place? I didn't peg you as the type to recruit child soldiers and you'd know more than anyone that the military is no place for children. So why would you sponsor them, and for that matter agree to be their superior?" Mustang sighs wistfully and says, 

When I found those boys they were in a terrible situation that no one, no matter the age should have to go through. I saw the mistakes they had made and the look that Fullmetal had in his eye, if he had been left alone he might have done the same thing again. I couldn't have that so I gave them a purpose instead. He still gets that look in his eye occasionally but it's much less intense now. As for why I sponsored them and offered to be their superior, well despite them being so young they have so much potential and I want to encourage that and see it blossom. Plus not all the military would take into account their young age and might have had them do things that would break someone their age. I couldn't allow that to happen so I suppose that's another reason." Shou nods in understanding and Roy let's Shou know he has to go but not before reminding Shou about the certification test fast approaching. Shou sighs as Mustang leaves and returns to his work.

**Ed's POV**

After playing with Nina and Alexander for a while the two eventually tuckered out so Ed and Al head to the library to see what kind of books Tucker has. They browse through the library finding tome upon tome of biochemical alchemy and the hypothetical creation of chimaeras and Al sighs and says, 

"Chimaera this, chimaera that, is that all these damn books can talk about. Sheesh talk about unoriginal, the military has been doing it since Ishval, it's nothing new." Ed shrugs and says,

"Yeah but what do you expect? Humans are so unoriginal about this kind of stuff and all they can think to create is something to amuse themselves with. But they're humans, what do you expect? My big question is how they rationalise the ethics behind these experiments and still manage to think they're scientists doing things for advancement in life." Al nods and points out,

"That kind of reminds me, didn't the colonel mention that the chimaera could talk? Doesn't that require them to be mixed with a human? And if so he was his human subject and was he sponsored by the government to conduct the experiment or was he just being a greedy human after fame and money?" Ed nods and says, 

"That's a very valid point, but you'd think if he was sponsored by the government they'd have kept it a secret. Things like that being found out could cause a lot of problems and unwanted questions being asked. So my best guess is he was just being greedy. The next question is who did he use in his experiment?" Al hums and snaps his fingers and says,

"Being a single parent isn't all that rare but there's the possibility he could have used his wife in the experiment. Ease of access and all, and with Nina being so young he could have come up with a believable excuse that didn't bring up too many unwanted questions." Ed nods thoughtfully and says, 

"Yeah that makes sense but we'd have to find out more about before we jump to any conclusions. Which means we need to get to know them better, great what fun." He rolls his eyes as he shows his enthusiasm for staying longer. Al chuckles and says, 

"You may not want to get to know Tucker but you didn't seem to have a problem with Nina and Alexander earlier." Ed huffs and says,

"Well yeah, Nina's just a kid so she hasn't picked up on all the greediness, and selfishness, and whatnot that humans have. And plus Alexander is a dog, he's innocent in all senses." Al nods and says agreeingly,

"You've got a point there but let's get down to business and get to really know who Shou Tucker is."

**The Next Day, Location Unknown**

**POV Unknown**

A man with short black hair sighs and leans back in his chair and says, " I don't understand why he's going after state alchemists, if he's got a grudge with the military why not go after normal soldiers instead of highly trained alchemists?" Another man with a muscular build and a single strand of curly, blonde hair on his head says,

"Perhaps the certification is the reason. There's a number of reasons why he could be going after state alchemists. Perhaps he thinks that they're not upholding the alchemist code of 'thou for the people' or maybe an individual that still remembers the atrocities the state alchemists played a part in during the Ishvalan Civil War. Or maybe how once they earn their certification they become dogs of the military and are no longer loyal to the people." There's a knock on the door and a woman with short black hair and a mole on her left cheek enters and says,

"I have a report sir. Yesterday at 9:30 there was a report of a man with a large scar on his face at Central station by multiple eyewitnesses." the man with short black hair sits up and says,

"The station? Looks like that bastard got away. We've got to find him."

**Later that evening, the Tucker Residence, Amestris**

**Ed's POV**

The Elrics sit in front of Tucker as Njna lays on the floor with Alexander as all their hard work starts paying off, they're finally getting Tucker to tell them about his wife. Tucker sighs and says with a somber look on his face, "Back before I got my state alchemist certification our lives were terrible. We were so poor and my wife couldn't stand it so she left us," he sighs again and continues "I can't afford to fail this assessment. I don't want to go back to those days I don't even think I could." Nina looks up at him and says, 

"Don't worry daddy. If those people say no me and Alexander will growl at them until they say yes.", Al chuckles and Tucker looks at Nina and Alexander for a moment and says, 

"Hey Nina how about we play together tomorrow?", she smiles and looks up at him before jumping into his arms and says,

"Really?", he nods and she says "You hear that Alexander? Daddy's gonna play with us tomorrow!", Ed and Al chuckle at her youthful energy as she keeps smiling. 

**The next day, the Tucker Residence**

**Ed's POV**

Al rings the doorbell for the third time and sighs at not getting an answer. Ed looks at him and says, "Do you think no one's home?", he shakes his head and says, 

"Only one way to find out.", he opens the door and they step into the dark house getting the creepy feeling they had upon first entering the house, but unlike before it was not washed away by a young girl running around and playing. They go deeper into the house calling out for Tucker, Nina, and Alexander and upon not getting an answer and exploring the whole house without a sign of anyone they head to Tucker's lab. They get down there and see him crouched down talking to something and when they get closer he turns to them and says,

"I've finally done it. A chimaera that understands human speech, watch," he looks at the chimaera and says whilst pointing to Ed, "This is Edward.", the chimaera looks at Ed and says,

"That person Edward.", Tucker nods and pets its head and says, 

"Good job.", Ed looks on in bemusement as it keeps repeating the sentence and crouches down to look at the handiwork of the chimaera. He's not really paying attention to what the chimaera is saying until suddenly it smiles and says, 

"Big brother Ed.", Ed's eyes widen in horror as he looks at the chimaera and asks,

"Mr Tucker, when did you first get your state certification?", he rubs his chin and says, 

"Let's see that was two years ago.", Ed then asks,

"And when did you say your wife left you?", he pauses momentarily and says,

"That was also two years ago", Ed turns to him and says with a furious look in his eyes,

"One last question, where are Alexander and Nina?", Al grits his teeth and glares at Tucker. Tucker pushes up his glasses and says, 

"Damn brat for figuring it out so quickly.", Ed lunges at him and pins his to the wall and yells,

"How could you! She was your daughter! How could you do this to her!?! Two years ago it was your wife, now your own daughter! Of course you can only do so much with animals, using humans is so much easier! Isn't that right!", Tucker chuckles and says,

"I don't see what you're so upset about this is how we human progress.", Ed slams him up against the wall again and yells,

"Progress! Progress with what! Filicide? And don't you dare lump me and Al with a bastard like you! We're nothing like a greedy human such as yourself." Tucker chuckles and says, 

"Oh really and what about that arm and leg of yours? Don't act so high and mighty, we're the same you and I." Ed growls and punches through the wall with his flesh and starts choking Tucker out with his metal hand and says,

"Don't make me repeat myself. Don't. Lump. Me. With. You. Humans.", Al grabs his arm and forces Ed to stop choking Tucker and says,

"Brother stop, I realise how much you want him dead and I can't blame you but we can't be caught. Not over him, not like this. Yeah we can't have our secret get out like this, he might tell but we can say that he's gone insane. Which I personally think he has. No one will believe him and until we are able to deal with him that excuse will suffice." Ed sighs and nods and says, 

"Alright but I'm roughing him up a bit." Al shrugs and says, 

"I don't care about that, just don't cause any serious injuries outside of like a broken nose." Ed smiles ferally and proceeds to beat on Tucker for a bit whilst Al takes Nina out and calls Mustang.

**Some time later, central headquarters**

**Ed's POV**

Mustang and Riza walk out of the headquarters and Riza says, "If there was ever an example of the devil's work this would be it." Mustang huffs and says,

"The devil's work, huh? No I don't think so, a state alchemist must be willing to act, be able to take another's life when ordered to without question. In some ways Mr Tucker's actions and are own may not be all that far apart when it comes to interfering with other people's lives. We choose our own path knowing full well what we're doing," he stops next to Ed and Al and says, "That's the way it is. Isn't that right, Fullmetal? You will more than likely run into more situations like this and even get your own hands dirty. Are you going to shut down like this every time?", he starts walking away and Ed says

"Call us dogs of the military, hell call us devil's if you wish but we know the truth. We're not Devil's or gods, we're just two kids. Kids that couldn't even save one innocent girl!"

**The Tucker Residence**

**POV Unknown**

Tucker looks at Nina and says, "I wonder why no one is capable of understanding me Nina." He looks up at hearing the floorboard creak and sees a man with a scar on his face and says "Who are you?", the man looks up at him and says, 

"You're Shou Tucker, correct?", Tucker stands up and says, 

"Who are you? You're not military. How'd you get in here, there were military police outside.", the man walks towards Tucker menacingly and says, 

"Foolish alchemists who try to play god must be punished." He then grabs Tucker by his face and his hand lights up with blue sparks and causes Tucker to convulse and blood to pour out of all of his orifices. He then turns to Nina and says, "You poor creature, nothing can be done to save you, so the least I can do is offer you this." He puts a hand on her head and says, "May god have mercy on your soul." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp this chapter is over. And there probably goes the last bit of my motivation for a while. I won't make any promises about updates with school and work kicking my ass rn I'm not sure when I'll have the motivation to post again but until then enjoy


End file.
